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Dairy industry leads water buybacks

Milk production in the Murray-Darling Basin is at 2.25 billion litres and still growing.

Warwick Long

Dairy farmers are now the major buyer of water in the southern parts of the Murray-Darling Basin.

The price of permanent irrigation water fell in the Basin when the Federal Government stopped buybacks for the environment.

Peter Lawford, CEO of water trading co-operative Waterpool, says this season farmers have chosen to start buying again.

"There are certainly other industries as well. There is a little bit going into horticulture, but the predominance is dairy in the Goulburn Valley," he said.

"So it's mostly Goulburn water that's selling.

"It's certainly increasing in price because of that demand, but certainly the dairy industry, being on somewhat of a high at the moment, people can afford to get back in and secure their future in that regard."